


The Chosen One

by lizbetann



Category: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-09-13
Updated: 2001-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-09 06:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizbetann/pseuds/lizbetann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One girl in all the world with the strength and speed to kill the vampires -- but this time, it is not Buffy Summers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the Hellmouth

**Author's Note:**

> AU of Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest in a world where Buffy Summers has nothing more on her mind than the latest fashions -- and another girl is the Chosen One.

Nightmares. Somehow she'd hoped she'd never have them again. However futile the hope had been, she'd clung to it.

Now the images came, horrifying enough to a person who had no clue what she was seeing. For her, it wasn't an amorphous fear, but a reality. Monsters of unimaginable evil, blood, death, destruction...

Vampires.

The Slayer tossed restlessly. Her hands curved in her sleep, instinctively reaching for the weapons that would destroy what she dreamed of. One face burned into her memory; a vampire whose power was nearly palpable in her dream.

He opened his mouth... and beeping came out of it.

Startled, Willow Rosenberg shot up in bed. After a few moments, she silenced her alarm clock and shoved her long red hair away from her face, noticing with a distinct surprise that her hands weren't shaking. Somehow, she felt worse that they weren't. The reality of who she was and what she had become sometimes startled her.

She was the Chosen One. Shy, timid, awkward Willow. It was her duty to kill. She still didn't understand it.

She didn't have time for that now. She had to go tell Giles what she had dreamed. Sliding out of bed, she went to her closet to get dressed.

On top of everything else, she had a math test today, too.

"Buffy! It's time to get up! You don't want to be late for your first day of school!"

With a yawn and a stretch, Buffy Summers sat up slowly in bed, idly surveying her room. Cartons lay scattered around the bed her father had assembled last night. Somewhere in one of them was her clothes. Well, actually, her clothes wouldn't fit into just one. She wanted that lemon-yellow skirt with the white butterfly halter-top, but she had no idea which box it was in. Groaning, she flopped backwards into the bed and pulled the covers over her head. She was never going to find it in this room. Might as well get some more sleep.

"BUFFY!"

This time it was her father's voice. Ho-kay. Shoving the covers aside, Buffy stumbled out of bed. A mirror was propped up against a far wall, and Buffy knelt to examine herself in it. "I can't go to school today, Mom!" she called down the stairs.

"Why not, Buffy?" was the exasperated reply.

"I look like something from The Return of the Living Dead!" Buffy wailed. "I don't want anyone to see me like this! *Especially* if they've never seen me before!"

"You look fine," her mother assured her from the door of her room.

"No, I look awful! Look at my eyes, they're puffy!"

Joyce took her daughter's shoulders and steered her to the closet where she had hung up Buffy's clothes while her daughter had slept. "You look fine," she repeated. "Be downstairs in fifteen minutes."

Back in the kitchen, Joyce picked up her coffee cup. "First crisis of the day averted."

Hank gulped his coffee, and checked his watch. "We let her get away with too much."

Joyce sighed. "I know. But..." Her voice trailed off, and she tapped her short nails on the ceramic pig that grinned foolishly on her mug. Then she unconsciously squared her shoulders. "I'm going to go looking for some space today. For the gallery."

Hank put his coffee cup down and looked at her. "Joyce, I know this is your dream. But I've just got this transfer and we don't know how it's going to work out. We may not stay here long enough to make opening a curio shop...."

"A gallery," Joyce corrected.

"A gallery," he agreed. "Make opening a gallery feasible. Wait a while."

"'Wait a while,'" she repeated. "That's what you've been saying for years. And every time you have such clear, concise arguments about why we need to wait that I agree every time. But when do *I* get to follow my dreams?" Hank opened his mouth, and she cut him off. "Never mind. I'll wait."

Hank checked his watch again and gulped the last of his coffee. "I've got to go. Wouldn't look good to be late on the first day of work." He set his cup down, then paused. Crossing to his wife's side, he kissed her cheek, then turned to the door. He opened it, then his fingers tightened on the doorknob. "I was hoping this move would be a new beginning for us, Joyce," he said quietly. Then he pulled the door shut behind him.

Joyce sighed and sat down at the table again. A small sound made her look up at her daughter. Buffy was just outside of the kitchen door, but when her mother saw her, she moved forward. "Buffy, I --"

Buffy shot her a bright, brittle smile. "Can I have some juice? I need juice to face a new school. Fresh juice. And an omelet? Please, Mom? Egg whites, no cheese, lots of pepper. Please?"

Joyce nodded and let her hand rest on her daughter's head for a moment. "Anything you want, sweetie. I promise."

With dazzling speed and skill, Xander Harris negotiated the crowded throngs of students outside of Sunnydale High, weaving his powerful-yet-lithe body through breathtakingly narrow gaps in foot and vehicular traffic.

In theory, anyway.

The constraints of reality forced him to shout, "'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa! 'Scuse me, that's your next stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me" as he balanced precariously on the skateboard. He looked up to check the path for a showy stop at the bottom of the steps.

Then the sight of *her* hit him like a thousand thunderbolts.

Okay, so that was the railing on the steps, actually. Xander didn't care. Small, blond, with a bright smile and great... teeth, she was wearing less than some Sports Illustrated swimsuit models he'd seen. But best of all, he'd never seen her before. Which meant that she'd never seen him before. Which meant that she didn't know that he was doofus of the month for the next three thousand years, which meant he actually had a shot at her.

Life was good.

She passed out of his range of vision from where he was lying flat on his back, and the ability to speak English returned to him. Hauling himself up, he tucked his skateboard under his arm and the brain cells kicked in. Willow. He'd been looking for Willow. His math grade had been sliding steadily all semester. It had finally stopped sliding, which was good. Except for the fact that it had stopped sliding because it had hit rock bottom, nowhere-to-go-but-up-and-up-is-too-damn-far-away. That was bad.

But Willow wasn't in sight. Which was weird; it was kind of rare that Willow wasn't in his sight. At least, it had been up until last year. Then for summer vacation Willow had gone to L.A. to study at some study exchange thingie that a college there had put together, a chance for really bright students to get a jump on their studies and experience college life. When Willow had come back, she'd been... different. Xander couldn't quite define the difference, but he didn't like it.

He spotted Jesse, however, and Willow got shuffled to the back of his mind. "Hey, Jesse, what's what?"

Jesse greeted him. "New girl!"

"That's right, I saw her," Xander said, not admitting that seeing her had knocked him on his... pride. Besides, who worried about such minor details? "Pretty much a hottie. So... tell!" They passed through the doors into the school, joining the traffic pattern of students making their way to lockers and classes.

"Tell what?"

Xander made an exasperated sound. Jesse usually was good at ferreting out information. He wrote the sports stuff for the Sunnydale High Times, and usually was the source for the best gossip that didn't make it into the paper. "What's the sitch, what do you know about her? " Jesse shrugged and kept grinning. Apparently lust had short-circuited his reporter's instincts. "New girl!" he repeated. He was first runner up for doofus of the month, and as happy as Xander to see someone in the school who didn't know his loser status.

Xander hoisted the skateboard higher and gave Jesse a look of disgust. "You're certainly a fount of nothing."

"Hey, what else do we need to know?"

"Name, age, measurements..." Jesse gave him a look. "Okay, okay, so we pretty much could guess those. But details, man, I want details!" Xander stopped for a second in the door to homeroom, puzzled. Willow, of all people, late for class? What, was the world coming to an end? Then he shook his head and ducked into class.

"...and then he opened his mouth to say something to me and that's when I woke up." Willow uneasily folded a sheet of notebook paper along its ruled lines into an accordion and didn't raise her eyes above the level of the table.

"This is very bad," Rupert Giles said quietly. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. For a moment, his gaze lingered on Willow's bent head, red hair gleaming in the light that seeped in through the high windows of the library. He had known her for two months now, and still had a hard time reconciling his intellectual understanding that she was the Slayer with his visceral urge to protect such a small, slight, innocent-looking girl. The fact that in those two months there had been no indication of any vampire activity necessitating the Slayer's skills didn't help. Indeed, for much of that time Giles had been wrestling with the idea of whether or not he should somehow encourage Willow to leave small, idyllic Sunnydale and go somewhere where her destiny could more properly be fulfilled.

But her dreams changed everything. As did the newspaper article with the headline reading, "Local Boys Still Missing." "And you are certain you were here? In this town?"

Willow nodded. "I didn't see anything familiar or anything, I just knew. It was here. It was my home. And that vampire... he's here too. He's already here." She raised her eyes to meet those of her Watcher. "I don't know how to find him, though."

Giles sighed and turned to his books. "Then we must find him. Before he finds you."

"Buffy Summers!" Principal Flutie enthused, sounding like he was calling her to come on down to be the next contestant in The Grade is Right. "Sophomore, late of Hemary High in Los Angeles, welcome to our little town!"

"Charmed, I'm sure," Buffy replied, sighing inwardly. God, could this be any more boring? Did they do this in L.A. schools, or was this a small-town thing? She stifled a yawn by pressing her back teeth together and blinked with wide-eyed innocence at the principal.

With great ceremony, Mr. Flutie opened her records. After a moment or two of perusal, he looked up and clucked his tongue at Buffy. "Buffy. These say that your test scores are in the upper percentile for your class and age group."

"Oh, really? Um, okay, I'll work on getting them lower."

He gave her a look to make sure that she wasn't joking. "No. That's *good*. Except for the fact that your grades don't equal your test scores. Think of it like a math equation."

"Ew. I hate math."

Flutie barreled on, undeterred. "You have your test scores... here." He set his pencil cup on the desk to Buffy's left. "And then your have your grades... here." The coffee cup went to Buffy's right. "And the two of them should match." He watched Buffy blink at him, and sighed. "Your first class is down the hall to the right."

"Thanks." Buffy beamed a huge smile at him. "'Bye!"

"Ugh." Buffy paused outside of Principal Flutie's office and examined her hair. "Okay, I'm not making first period here until this frizz is tamed. Bad, bad, bad hair. No creme rinse for you." She snapped her compact shut and turned to put it in her bag, and collided with a girl walking by.

"Hey! Watch it!" Buffy grumbled and gathered up her stuff. "Oh, wonderful. My new eyeshadow's broken. The youth of today..."

In mourning for her Clinique Passionate Plum Quartet, Buffy didn't notice the boy that squatted down to help her. At first. Then she noticed, and immediately cataloged. Cute in a goofy sort of way, no fashion sense, nice bod but obviously not working out too much. Still... he was a boy. When he glanced up, she offered him a smile. He blinked, dropping half of what he had picked up.

"Can I have you?" he asked, completely earnest. Buffy blinked. Ho-kay, direct and to the point. Before she could cut him off at the knees he flushed and stuttered, "Duh, huh, huh... Can I help you?"

Aw, wasn't he cute? "Thanks," she said, perfecting her sweet innocence eyelash flutter on him.

"I don't know you, do I?" Major puppy dog eyes there.

"Nope, first day at your wonderful school. I'm Buffy."

"Xander... is, is me. Hi."

Okay, cute and drooling was getting old and tiresome *really* fast. "Thanks."

Drool Boy didn't give up easy, she had to give him points for that. "Well, uh, maybe I'll see you around... maybe at school... since we...," he began gasping like a beached fish, "...both... go there."

Buffy nodded absently, already worrying how fast she could find the nearest bathroom to fix her hair. "It was, uh, nice to meet you." She barely noticed that he hadn't said anything in response as she headed away.

Xander spent a few seconds trying to kick his own butt. His best chance in his lifetime, and he blew it. "We both go to school," he mimicked himself. "Very suave. Very not pathetic." Groaning, he dropped his head and scuffed the floor with his sneaker.

And kicked something Buffy had left behind.

She was still in sight, hurrying down the hall. "Oh, hey! Hey, you forgot your..."

Xander picked up the object and studied it curiously for a second. "Scrunchie!"

But she was out of sight.

"It's estimated that about twenty-five million people died in that one four-year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe... how?"

Buffy blinked and concentrated on keeping her eyes open in history class. Black Death, Boob Plague, yadda yadda yadda... she'd had the same lecture in seventh grade social studies and remembered most of it, even if the details on this one were a little grodier, given that they were older and less likely to have nightmares. Big whoop what happened a million years ago. She needed time to find out what was happening now, here. Sunnydale was a little hick town. It should take her until about the end of the day to be firmly entrenched in the In Crowd. Within a month, she'd be ruling the school.

"...look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease into Rome, and then north..."

Oh, great. She had to pay attention now. She glanced around but there weren't any cute guys in the vicinity to lean over. A dark-haired girl across the row hissed to get her attention and slid her desk over. Buffy grinned her thanks and dutifully looked at the map.

Luckily for her boredom tolerance levels, the bell rang in the middle of the teacher's lecture. Buffy smiled in relief and picked up her bag. "Thanks," she said to the other girl.

"Hi," she said, offering her hand. "I'm Cordelia."

Buffy glanced at her. Good outfit, boring hair but great makeup. "I'm Buffy."

Cordelia rose and collected her own stuff. "If you're looking for a textbook of your very own there's probably a few in the library."

"If I *have* to," Buffy sighed dramatically. "Where's the library?"

"I'll show you, come on." They made their way out into the crowd of students streaming through the hallways. "So you're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?"

"Home sweet home. It wasn't too bad."

"Oh, I would kill to live in L.A.," Cordelia sighed, completely heartfelt. "That close to that many shoes?"

Buffy laughed. She had found her people. Maybe this hick town wouldn't be too bad after all.

They wandered down the hall; it wouldn't do to look *too* anxious to get anywhere that had to do with school. "You'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time." Buffy nodded earnestly. As if she needed any help. "Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see." Cordelia looked her over carefully. "Vamp nail polish."

"Oh, please. Over."

"So over," Cordelia agreed. "James Spader."

Ooo, the girl had *taste*. "He *needs* to call me!"

"Frappaccinos."

Buffy grinned, remembering defending them against Jennifer. "Trendy, but tasty."

"John Tesh."

"Ew. The Devil."

"That was pretty much a gimme, but... you passed!"

"Oh, wow, I was so scared." Buffy rolled her eyes, then made a beeline for a drinking fountain, and waited while the girl in front of her finished.

"Willow! Nice dress! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. Not that she didn't agree with the assessment, but...

The redheaded girl that looked back at them blinked solemnly. "Uh, oh, well, my mom picked it out."

Which, Buffy thought with an inward wince, was sadly, screamingly obvious. Still, she had gorgeous hair and great skin. There wasn't any reason for her to look so bad.

Cordelia's face was set in a sneer that would give her lines in about twenty years. " No wonder you're such a guy magnet. Are you done?"

Oh, joy. Her new best friend was the sort that got off on picking on the less fortunate. Buffy didn't exactly make friends with nerds and losers, but she outgrew pushing them off the jungle gym about preschool. Buffy's estimation of how long it would take her to take over the cool clique as Sunnydale High revised itself downward by about a week. Since it had already shrunk from month to two weeks...

Without another word, Willow turned and left. Cordelia gestured to the fountain and smiled smugly. "You want to fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight, they're a lot easier to avoid."

Buffy rolled her eyes, then smiled brightly. Definitely a week. Maybe less.

They were ignoring the fact that another bell had rung when Cordelia finally brought up the topic of hanging out. "If you're not too swamped with catching up, you should come by the Bronze tonight."

"The what?"

"The Bronze. It's the only club worth going to around here. They let anybody in, but it's still the scene. It's in the bad part of town."

"Where's that?"

Cordelia grinned ruefully, actually looking human for the first time. "About a half a block from the good part of town." She shrugged, laughing. "We don't have a whole lot of town here. But, um, you should show!" For the first time she sounded a little uncertain. Maybe she needed the status as mentor to cool new girl to cement her position in her group.

Buffy nodded. "Well, I'll try." She paused outside the library doors, and heaved a tragic sigh. "I suppose I have to go in. Thanks."

"Sure. So, I'll see you in gym, and you can tell me absolutely everything there is to know about you."

"Yeah. Later, bye!"

The library doors banged shut behind Buffy, and she peered into the gloom. "Hello? Hello? Wow, is this a set from 'The Last Crusade' or something?" She walked forward toward the check-out desk. "Hello, anyone here?"

Turning on her heel, she peered up at the upper stacks -- and at the librarian who had just appeared behind her. "Ah!" She jumped back. "Anyone's here. Wow. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

The librarian didn't look impressed. With a faint air of hostility, he asked, "Can I help you?"

Buffy grinned at him, certain of her charm. "I was looking for some, well, books. I'm new."

He still didn't look impressed. "Miss Summers?" he questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?"

"I'm Mr. Giles. The librarian. I was told you were coming." He disappeared behind the checkout desk and pulled out a thick, heavy book. "I know what you need."

Buffy stared incredulously at the tome he had pulled out. "What?"

"You do need Perspectives on the 20th Century, correct?"

"Yeah, but that's not it." Buffy pulled back as though the book was a snake, or a day-glow artifact from the 80s.

Puzzled, Giles examined the cover of the book. Perspectives on the 20th Century. "But... your teacher contacted me... Are you sure?"

"I'm way sure. They can't ask me to read something that big. I'll die before I finish it." Backing away at something resembling a dead run, Buffy fled the library.

Giles stared after her, startled. "My mistake," he murmured to the empty room.


	2. Walk Softly And Carry A Pointy Stick

Willow found an unoccupied bench out on the grassy quad and raised her face to the sunshine. She needed to pull out her science book and double-check a few facts, but more than that, she needed to not think for a moment. Her nightmares were hovering over her head, and putting them on Giles' shoulders hadn't helped very much.

She'd had Merrick in Los Angeles to help her. In a few weeks, she'd changed from a shy, awkward girl to a shy, dexterous girl. She'd learned how to kill. She still was trying to deal with that.

In the hot Southern California sun, she remembered staking Lothos. Her hand twitched slightly, remembering with her. The amount of pressure needed to press hardened wood into a vampire's heart was a sensory memory that never left her. She hadn't seen a vampire since that night, the same night Merrick had died. She'd hoped against hope that she never would.

But from the look on Giles' face, she was doomed to disappointment. And Giles was... Giles. He wasn't Merrick. He was sweetly scattered, determined to help train her, help her fight, when sometimes he seemed like he couldn't see past the end of his books. Merrick had been her sole support in a world gone mad. Somehow, she felt like she was Giles'.

"Hey," a bright voice broke into her thoughts, and Willow opened her eyes. The new girl was standing in front of her, bookbag slung over one shoulder and cheerful smile on her face.

"Um, hi." Willow blinked, startled.

The new girl sat down beside her. "Willow, right?" ~She's talking to me. I mean, like, actually talking, without the meanie tone.~ "Why?" Willow asked blankly, thoughts jumping to her tongue without her volition. "I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want me to move?"

Buffy shook her head and settled herself more comfortably on the bench. "Why don't we start with 'Hi, I'm Buffy', and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor. It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

"But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?" Willow asked suspiciously.

Buffy arched an eyebrow. "I can't do both?"

Once again, Willow spoke without thinking. "Not legally."

Buffy lifted her delicate nose in a sneer. "Like anyone tells me who I hang with. If I wanna hang with you, I'll hang with you. And, well, I kinda have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes, and I heard a rumor that you were the person to talk to if I wanted to get caught up."

"Um, I'd really like to," Willow hedged.

"Come on. I'll like totally be your slave. Please?"

~I can't tell you why I can't help you,~ Willow thought in a panic. ~I can't explain that the end of the world is coming and I've got to stop it and I...~ "Sure," she finally said, weakly. "Uh, if you have sixth period free we could meet in the library?" ~Giles will have kittens... ~

"Library. Traditional place to study in." Buffy nodded, looking like an anthropologist who had just documented an obscure behavior. "Sure."

Before Willow could panic any more over what Giles would think about her not only distracting herself from her sacred duty, but bringing a stranger into his hallowed ground, Xander and Jesse showed up. Xander vaulted up to sit between the two girls and tossed his bag to Jesse. "Hey, you guys busy? We interrupting? We're interrupting." He didn't look terribly contrite.

"Hey!" Buffy said brightly. Willow echoed her with a little less enthusiasm.

"Buffy, this is Jesse, and that's Xander." Willow performed the introductions a bit grudgingly. ~Why can't Xander get his eyes off her...~

Xander just nodded wisely. "Oh, me and Buffy go way back, old friends, very close." He paused and looked thoughtful -- or, at least, attempted to look thoughtful. "Then there's that period of estrangement where I think we were both growing as people, but now here we are, like old times. I'm quite moved."

"Is it me," Jesse asked, baffled, "or are you turning into a bibbling idiot?"

Willow managed to hide a grin as Xander admitted, "No, it's, uh, it's not you."

Buffy looked ready to disappear. "Well, it's nice to meet you guys, I think."

"Oh," Xander jumped like someone had stung him. He jumped down and grabbed his bag.

Jesse leaned closer into Buffy. "Well, you know, we wanted to welcome you, make you feel at home." He frowned, as something occurred to him. "Unless you have a scary home..."

Xander emerged from his bag triumphant. "And to return this." With a flourish, he handed her the scrunchie.

Buffy took it with a grin. "Thanks."

"So what do you do for fun, what do you like, what do you look for in a man, let's hear it." Emboldened by the fact that she had yet to squash him like a particularly unattractive bug, Xander started peppering her with questions.

Jesse chimed in, "If you have any dark, painful secrets you'd like us to publish?"

"Okay, time out!" Buffy lifted her hands into a T shape. "I promise, I'll take out a full page ad in whatever school paper you guys have, so everyone hears at once. Trust me," she forestalled Xander's complaint before he could get it out of his mouth, "It's worth the wait."

Xander had the grace to look sheepish. "Well, not much goes on in a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale. You're pretty big news."

"Yeah, you know, really, I am." Then she blinked. "Only one Starbucks?"

Before Buffy could panic in horror at the thought, Cordelia butted into the group. "Are these guys bothering you?" she demanded.

"Um, no!" Buffy said brightly.

Willow immediately defended her new friend. "She's not hanging out with us."

Jesse pounced on the opportunity to impress the girl of his dreams. "Hey! Cordelia!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes at Jesse. "Oh, please!" Turning to Buffy. "I don't mean to interrupt your downward mobility, but I just wanted to tell you that you won't be meeting Coach Foster --" she wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in front of a certain part of her body "--the woman with the chest hair, because gym was canceled due to the *extreme* dead guy in the locker."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm not worried... what?" Buffy's mouth caught up to her ears and she stared at Cordelia in abject shock.

Willow felt herself go cold. The sunlight couldn't warm her. "What are you talking about?" she asked numbly.

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!" Cordelia was torn between glee over getting to be the one to announce the news and horror over what the news was.

"Dead," Willow pressed, still in a flat tone.

Cordelia nodded, swallowing. "Totally dead. Way dead."

"So not just a little dead, then."

Distracted from contemplation of mortality, Cordelia glared at Xander. "Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"

Willing to take advantage of his friend being cut off at the knees, Jesse jumped in with, "You know, if you need a shoulder to cry on, or just to nibble on..." Cordelia rolled her eyes and stepped away.

Willow didn't notice any of the by-play. She was too busy remembering the bodies that had been found during her summer in L.A., the vampires she had killed. "How did he die?" she questioned without the habitual shyness that usually gripped her in crowds.

Cordelia looked at her as though she had crawled out under a rock. "I don't know."

~Holes in the neck, blood drained...~ Still staring blindly at her own private horror, Willow asked, "Were there any marks?"

"Ew! Morbid much! I didn't ask!"

Willow's eyes popped open and she looked at everyone staring at her. Once upon a time, her worst nightmare was to be the humiliating center of attention, to have everyone looking at her strangely. Her worst nightmare had changed. "I've got to go." She gathered up her bookbag and fled.

Buffy looked at everyone that had been left behind when Willow had disappeared. "What's her deal?"

"You're certain?" Giles asked.

Willow nodded. "I checked. There's a door to the gym that never locks right. The teachers don't think we know about it, but we do. I snuck in and found the body. It was a vampire. I'm sure of it."

"I had hoped... I had thought that, perhaps...." Giles closed the book he had been reading and sighed. "I wanted to stop this before anyone died."

"Yeah. Me too."

The bleak tone in Willow's voice worried Giles. He'd never considered a Slayer's mental state when he'd prepared for his duty. He'd never considered that the Slayer would have one. But the fate of the world rested on the small, slight shoulders of this girl, and he wondered if she could face it, if she would be strong enough.

And what he would have to do if she was not.

Willow lifted her head and looked Giles directly in the eye. He was almost startled, ashamed of his thoughts, fearing that she could read them. Because what her eyes reflected now was pure determination, a thread of steel that ran through her. She would admit death, but not defeat. Was that her nature, Giles wondered, or was it something Merrick had taught her?

"I'm the Slayer," Willow said quietly. "I will do whatever it takes to stop this." She rose to her feet, slim and strong. "I am," she recited with whole-hearted belief of a schoolchild parroting the Pledge of Allegiance, "the one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to kill the vampires, to stop their evil, and to banish them from this world."

The determination in her voice reverberated in Giles' ears, echoing with a hollow tone that unnerved him. It was exactly what a Slayer should say, what a Slayer should be.

Why, then, did he feel faintly shameful, as though he were doing something very, very wrong?

In the shadows of the stacks, Xander peered around the corner. Willow was gathering up her books and saying that she needed to get to her next class. The words were muttered under her breath, unlike the ringing declaration she made, naming herself the slayer -- whatever that was.

The weird librarian guy was assuring Willow that he would do research, that he would find where the vampires were and tell her. So he was encouraging Willow's little trip into unreality. Xander shook his head. Will had been wiggy since she had come back from L.A. six months before, but this... Xander wanted to go down and smash in the face of the librarian guy, for doing this to Will, for feeding whatever weirdness she was tripping on.

Vampires. In Sunnydale. Yeah, right. Sure, Sunnydale wasn't the safest place in the world, but where was? It was just the way it was. L.A. was shallow, San Fran was self-absorbed, and Sunnydale was dangerous. Kind of like that movie, the scary one with Kiefer Sutherland, where Santa Clara was supposed to be the murder capital of the world.

Whoa. Brakes. That movie was about vampires. Which weren't real. Willow was nuts. Which he couldn't believe.

Abandoning the math book that his teacher had ordered him to check out of the library for the health and safety of his grade, Xander wandered out, shaking his head. He needed to talk to Willow. Like, now. Get her head examined or deprogrammed or whatever.

Buffy rang the bell and did a fragment of a cheerleading routine across the porch. She was heading out to the Bronze for a night of fantabulous fun. But first, she had a public service to perform. For the sake of not getting grounded because of bad grades, she needed Willow's help. And to get Willow's help, she had to be around Willow, at least some of the time. Which meant that it was in her own best interests for Willow to look as ungeeky as possible. Not to mention that it was kind of cool to see herself as helping the terminally uncool get cooler. Kind of like Cher, in Clueless.

The door opened and Buffy shot her best 'I'm a wholesome and trustworthy member of the younger generation' smile to Willow's mother. "Hi, Mrs. Rosenberg. I'm Buffy Summers. I'm new in town, and Willow asked me to go to the Bronze with her."

"Willow?" Mrs. Rosenberg asked, shocked. She glanced up the stairs in the general direction of her daughter.

"Yup. We spent sixth period studying together and she said come over any time. So, can I come in?"

"Oh. Oh, yes, definitely. Willow," her mother called up the stairs. "Your friend is here!"

"No problem," Buffy said hastily. "I'll go up and help her get ready." Bouncing up the stairs, Buffy met Willow coming out of her room, wearing the same dress she'd worn to school that day.

"What --" Willow began, only to be shoved back into her room by Buffy.

"Hi, Will!" Buffy said loudly, turning her face back toward the stairs. "I'm really looking forward to tonight. It's going to be so cool." The door shut, and Buffy dropped her voice, but didn't seem to take a breath. "Okay, that dress has *got* to go. Fashion Emergency, to the rescue!" She opened Willow's closet doors and frowned at the contents. "Ugh. Definitely bringing my stuff over next time." She grabbed a short skirt and a long sleeved sweater out of the closet and closed the doors. "Shoes. It's all going to depend on shoes. Let's get started."

"What are you doing here?" Willow asked, bewildered.

"I told your mom you asked me to go with you to the Bronze tonight."

"But I didn't."

"Say, 'Buffy, will you come to the Bronze tonight with me?'"

Willow blinked. "Huh?"

"Just say it."

"Buffy, will you come to the Bronze tonight with me?"

Buffy grinned. "Sure, and you're so nice to ask me. See? I didn't lie to your mom. It just hadn't happened yet." She held out the skirt and sweater. "Now put these on. I'm in a mood to dance tonight."

Overwhelmed and outgunned, Willow took the clothes and followed the blonde whirlwind obediently.


	3. Don't Go Down Dark Alleys With Blondes

They were halfway to the Bronze before Willow realized they were being followed. Part of it was that Buffy was chattering constantly, bright, happy and perfectly willing to not have Willow respond. The other part was that, despite finding the dead body in the locker room, Willow couldn't believe that evil could be happening here, in Sunnydale. Sure, the memorial section of their yearbook was bigger than most. But, still, Sunnydale?

Without betraying her suspicions to Buffy, Willow started angling them down an alleyway. She wanted to get whoever was following her out into the open before they reached the Bronze.

"Whoa, Will, where are we going?" Buffy began turning in a nervous circle, making a face at the stench of garbage. Her eyes were darting from side to side.

"I, um... I thought I heard someone behind us," Willow said hesitantly. City born and bred, Buffy went on stalker alert.

With a certain amount of relief, Willow realized that she wasn't going to have to convince Buffy to be careful. "Go hide behind the dumpster, and I'll--"

"Ew. No. Why should I hide? I took a self-defense class. At my old high school. Just try and let some skuzzy guy grab me."

Willow mentally sighed, but managed to drag Buffy back into the shadows. "I want to see who it is," she said, with enough force in her voice that Buffy glanced at her in surprise, and then kept silent.

The figure moving down the alley was tall, dressed in dark clothing. Willow waited until the light fell across his face -- human. Or, at least, human-looking. He had slowed down, looking around him.

Buffy whispered, "Hottie alert. Yum."

"Shush," Willow said, but it was obvious that the guy heard them. She emerged from the shadows with her hands held in an elementary fighting position, and he did a double take. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Yeah, there's a problem. Why are you following us?" Buffy had followed her back out into the alley and stood her ground behind Willow, who kept silent and watched the guy with wary eyes. He *was* gorgeous, but his sarcastic tone reminded Willow a little too much of Lothos, of the vampires she'd killed, so smug and certain of themselves.

"Don't worry," he snapped back, dividing his attention between the diminutive blonde and the slim redhead in front of him. "I don't bite."

"Too bad," Buffy murmured, obviously thinking she was speaking for Willow's ears only. The smirk from the guy in front of her, however, made Willow sickly suspicious, afraid that she was alone in an alley with a vampire and a girl who looked and acted exactly like the first kill in every horror movie Willow had ever watched between her fingers.

"What do you want?" Willow challenged.

"Same thing you do," the possible-vampire said.

"Fine, what do we want?" Buffy asked. But Willow kept her eyes on the dark ones in front of her, and nodded slightly.

He grinned slightly, in acknowledgement of their shared secret, ignoring Buffy's question. "You know, I thought you'd be taller. Muscles, and all that."

"I don't need them," Willow said.

"Yeah, I'll bet." He glanced behind him, then looked at the two girls. "I came to give you this." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a flat jewelry box, tossing it to Willow, who caught it deftly. "You're standing at the mouth of Hell. And it's about to open."

Willow's hands clenched on the box as Buffy demanded behind her, "What *are* you talking about?"

"The Harvest," he said, starting to fade back into the shadows.

"Who are you?" Willow called. ~Gotta tell Giles, Giles will figure this out.~

"Let's just say... I'm a friend."

"Yeah?" Buffy said. "Maybe we don't want a friend."

The parting shot was delivered over his shoulder with a smirk. "I never said I was yours."

There was silence in the alley for a few minutes. "Okay, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Annoying. What's in the box?"

Willow was reluctant to open it in front of Buffy. She wanted -- needed -- to keep her identity secret. She couldn't tell Buffy who and what she was. But Buffy wasn't letting her put the box away without opening it, and finally Willow lifted the lid.

"Wow," Buffy said, peering at the simple silver cross inside. "Pretty, in a pseudo-Goth sort of way. This might be a stupid question, but why are gorgeous guys wandering around in dark alleys handing out crosses?"

Willow took the cross out of the box and tucked it into the breast pocket of her sweater. "Um... it's a cult," she improvised, tossing the box into a dumpster and towing Buffy back onto the way to the Bronze.

"A cult?"

"Yeah. Fundamentalist Christians. They give crosses away to try to convert people."

"Oh," Buffy said. "That would explain the whole 'mouth of hell' thing, too. Right?"

Willow nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Fire and brimstone and stuff."

"Aren't you going to wear it?" Buffy asked.

Willow looked at her. Buffy was completely serious, and Willow began to laugh. "My dad would absolutely kill me. Ira Rosenberg's little girl wearing a cross? No way."

Buffy giggled. "Good point. Come on. I wanna dance."

Willow hadn't been to the Bronze since she'd gotten back from L.A.. She'd never exactly been a social butterfly, but she'd withdrawn severely into herself after... everything.

But it was lovely, dark and crowded and noisy, with Buffy vibrating with pleasure beside her as they paid cover and dove inside. Buffy raised one arm and waved at Cordelia and her crew across the room. "Come on."

Willow hung back. "Nah, I'll stay at the bar."

"Willow, trust me. I'll back you."

Buffy's mouth was set, determined. She was completely honest. If Willow wanted, Buffy would shove her down the throats of Cordelia's group until they accepted her. She could have the popularity -- or at least the acceptance -- that she'd never even imagined wanting.

And she didn't want it. It was weirdly liberating to think that she actually wanted to turn down the opportunity. "No," she said again. "I'm afraid. All that hairspray and venom just might melt my brain."

Buffy frowned, trying very, very hard to comprehend that Willow really didn't want her help. "You're sure?"

"Really, really sure."

"Okay. I'll be back though."

Willow offered a wistful smile. "You don't have to."

Pinning her with a look, Buffy said, "I'll be back."

Willow found an empty stool at the shadowy end of the bar and bought an Italian soda. She watched Buffy bounce up to Cordelia and her crew, and within five minutes be completely at home. Cordy was even casting alarmed looks at the new girl, afraid that her position as queen of the school was threatened. Willow smiled and mentally toasted Buffy.

The only warning was a tingle at the back of her neck, a feeling that she was being watched. Whipping her head around, Willow met the dark eyes of the guy in the alley. The sound in the Bronze seemed to disappear immediately as Willow abandoned her bar stool and approached him. "What do you want?"

"You understand?" His eyes flickered past her, glancing around, checking to see if anyone was watching them.

"Harvest. Mouth of Hell. Opening. I understand."

"I had to make sure. You weren't alone before." His eyes roamed again, finding Buffy in the crowd.

"She doesn't know. Nobody knows. How come *you* know?"

The dark-haired guy shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You have to stop it."

"I will," Willow vowed. "I promise."

Buffy had only half her attention on the crowd around her, answering questions about L.A. and cheerleading and boutiques. But she'd noticed the minute Annoying Guy had followed her into the Bronze. He was over in the corner talking to Willow... probably trying to pump Will for information, Buffy thought with amusement.

He *was* cute. In a severely older way. And the way he kept looking at her was nice. It had been a long time since her last boyfriend, and Buffy was enjoying the attention. "Come on," she said, cutting Cordelia off mid-sentence. "Let's dance."

She didn't have to track him with her eyes on the dance floor. She could feel that he was watching her. Good. It got even better when another boy stopped in front of her and grinned. Cute, closer to her age, lousy dress sense that looked like he was trapped in the worst part of the 80s, but still... "Wanna dance?" he offered.

Buffy grinned up at him, casting a sidelong look at Annoying Guy in the shadows. "Sure."

Jesse wandered around the Bronze. Xander was supposed to show up, but hadn't appeared yet. He'd suffered his nightly attack from Cordelia. Spill a drink on himself, and it would be a normal night for him at the Bronze.

Sighing, he made his way over to the swinging seat near the door. He'd be able to see Xander come in from there. He'd give Xander ten more minutes, and then he was going to book.

But when Jesse got to the seat, he found it was occupied. By a gorgeous girl with wispy blonde hair and wide blue eyes. He was backing away with an automatic apology when she smiled at him.

Her smile gave him the courage to grin back and say, "Hi."

"Hi." She had a breathy little voice and a way of looking up that made Jesse feel ten times taller.

"I'm Jesse."

"Hi, Jesse." The expression on her face didn't change, a faint half-smile and the adoration in her blank blue eyes.

After a few minutes, Jesse was creeped out. This was the second new girl he'd seen in Sunnydale in twenty-four hours. One had just watched him get unceremoniously cut in half by Cordelia, and this one looked like she was in an alternate dimension. Desperately, he prompted, "So, um, what did you say your name was?"

"Darla."

"You know, I haven't seen you around before. Are you from around here?"

The smile became a shade craftier. "No, but I have family here."

"Have I met them?" Jesse asked, trying to make conversation.

Darla tilted her head to the side and looked at him. The blankness in her eyes was gone, and suddenly Jesse felt pinned. How often did people really look at him, really meet his eyes with theirs, not just turning aside or glancing over his shoulder.

Then she blinked, and the moment ended. "You probably will."

Buffy was irked that Annoying Guy had disappeared. Her dancing partner, Thomas, didn't seem to notice that her attention was distracted.

How dare he not be jealous? Buffy fumed. Didn't he know the rules? She was so angry that when Thomas asked her to come with him, she followed without question.

Once outside, she started to get a bit... edgy. Not nervous. No guy in the world was going to make her nervous. But when the way to the ice cream place was through a graveyard, Buffy felt the skin on the back of her neck try to crawl away.

Abruptly, she pulled away. "Look, the ice cream parlor is a lame place to hang out. I'm going back to the Bronze."

Thomas caught the back of her neck in a bruising grip and leaned in close to hiss in her ear, "No, you're not."

Buffy wasn't anywhere in the Bronze. Willow had looked up on the second level, down on the dance floor, in the bathroom, everywhere. The last she'd seen, Buffy had been dancing with some strange guy Willow didn't know.

Maybe she'd left the Bronze to check out the town. Wandering around at night. After vampires had killed someone the night before. "Joy," Willow muttered under her breath as she charged out of the Bronze.

And ran smack into Xander.

"Whoa!" Xander caught her shoulders to slow her down, then stepped back. "Leaving in a hurry?"

"Xander, have you seen Buffy?" Willow asked urgently. Buffy couldn't have been gone long, maybe Xander had seen which direction she'd gone.

But her hopes were dashed when Xander shook his head. "Not tonight, no."

Willow kept looking up and down the alley. "I think she left with a guy."

"That fast?" Xander said mournfully. "Didn't give anyone else a chance to, ah, ah... get to know her."

Willow shook her head forcefully. "No, I need to find her. Where would he take her?" Willow asked, mostly to herself.

Xander frowned, confused. "Will, why are you worrying so much about the new girl? Unless... the guy's a vampire and you have to slay him."

Willow whipped her head around, and looked at Xander. "How did you know that? How did you find out I'm the Slayer?"

"I only know that that creepoid librarian is telling you you're the... whatever. Will," Xander gripped her shoulders again, made her look. "I'm worried about you. And after what I heard today I'm worried more."

Six months ago, Willow would have given every hair on her head, every SAT point she'd yet to earn to hear those words, to have Xander looking at her as though he was really seeing her. Now, responsibilities pressed on her, and she met his eyes. "Don't worry about me. Worry about Buffy. If we don't find her, there's going to be one more dead body in the morning. Come on. Help me look."

Xander was confused. No, he was far beyond confused. He was beginning to wonder if he'd woken up in a alternate universe. In the world he'd always known, Willow had been shy and hesitant, cute blondes didn't have anything to say to him, and vampires didn't exist.

This Willow was anything but hesitant, and Buffy had actually talked to him, not once but twice. Did that mean he'd have to accept the existence of vampires?

Willow didn't bother to wonder about whether or not he believed her. She just pressed forward, stepping off the nice, safe, lighted street to take the old shortcut to the ice cream parlor -- through the cemetery. "Uh, Will? Will, do we want to go through there?"

"Yes," she said without looking back at him.

He waited for her to elaborate, explain, retract, retreat, hide... something, anything. She just kept plowing through the headstones as though she were following a beacon.

She drew to a halt outside of a mausoleum. Inside, they could faintly hear voices. A cold tone in a woman's voice said, "There's hardly enough to share."

"Bring your own," a man's voice said.

Xander clutched Willow's arm as a shadow detached itself and stumbled into the mausoleum. "That's Jesse," he hissed.

Willow nodded, and pulled a short, sharp piece of wood from her jacket. "I know."

When they reached the doorway, Jesse was holding his neck and had a bemused look on his face. Buffy was backed into a corner, terrified, and also supremely pissed off. "Let them go," Willow said.

The non-Buffy blonde turned to look at Willow. "Who the hell are you?" she asked in a snide, amused tone, one that even Cordelia would not be ashamed of.

The change that came over Willow was what convinced Xander, even though later he was going to claim that he'd believed her from the beginning. With a couple of quick movements, she flung her hair out of her way and brought the stake she carried into a balanced position in her hand. But more than anything, it was how still she was. Willow, who always seemed to be a bundle of nervous energy. The energy was there, but it was like it was buried deep, tamed to spring on her command. And her eyes were steady, focused, completely level.

"I'm the Slayer," she said, and no one in the room doubted her.

For Xander, the world then exploded into a messy chaos of shouts and blows, bodies falling and people screaming. He managed to haul Buffy out of the mausoleum, and was turning back for Jesse when he saw Willow pivot to kick the bad blonde girl in the stomach and turn to the guy. His face was distorted into a hideous mask, with glowing yellow eyes and fangs, or at least it was until Willow buried the stake she carried into his chest. He threw his arms up into the air and with a sound that made Xander's flesh creep explodedinto blonde vampire, whose face was also twisted into something out of Xander's nightmares, took one look at the remains of her friend and attacked Willow. Xander really, really wanted to stay and help her, but Jesse was weaving on his feet and Buffy looked like she was going to faint or scream or throw up or all three at once. Gathering what semblance of control he had, Xander grabbed their arms and towed them out of the mausoleum, back out into the graveyard.

"Uh-oh," Buffy said, eyes wide. Three more vampires were approaching them. "We've got to hide!"

"No, we've got to run. Back to the Bronze!" Xander gave Jesse a push, and the three teenagers took off back to the club that promised safety in numbers.

Weaving, Jesse tripped over a flat headstone and went down. Buffy glanced over her shoulder and slowed, obviously indecisive. "Xander, come *on*," she urged, hopping from foot to foot.

"I'll catch up, I have to help Jesse," Xander shouted. "Keep going!" Squatting beside his best friend, Xander hauled Jesse's arm around his shoulder. "Come on, man, we got to keep moving."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm moving, see, moving." As soon as Xander wasn't supporting all of Jesse's weight, Jesse started to sink.

Xander looked around desperately. He couldn't carry Jesse, but he also couldn't leave him to be grabbed by monsters. So he'd have to fight them.

He propped Jesse up on a tombstone and gathered a couple of sticks that littered the ground. The first vampire was on him before he could even raise his hand. Desperately, Xander tried to block it, striking out wildly. He managed to land a blow that rocked the monster back on its heels, and Xander smiled grimly. He could make them hurt.

Then he realized they could make him hurt a lot worse.

He was pinned on the ground and Jesse was nowhere in sight when Xander admitted to himself that fighting back wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. Just as he felt teeth start to scrape his neck, the vampire disappeared in the kind of cloud Xander hadn't seen since the day his mother's Hoover had exploded. Willow stood above him, stake in hand and alert. "You okay?" she asked urgently.

Xander raised a hand to his neck and probed. "Yeah," he decided, and grabbed Willow's helping hand to boost him to his feet. When they heard a girl scream they both took off at a run.

Buffy was trapped at a pine tree almost at the edge of the cemetery. She cut loose with a high kick that rocked the vampire back on his heels. Before he could recover, Willow staked him from behind. "Thanks," Buffy panted. "And Mom said cheerleading was a waste of time."

"Where's Jesse?" Willow asked.

Buffy shook her head. Xander said, "They grabbed him. I don't know where he is."

Willow squished her eyes shut, then nodded. "Come on. We've got to get out of here."

"Willow," Buffy said. "What the hell is going on?"

Sighing, Willow said, "Come to the library tomorrow morning, before school. I'll explain then."

"Sure, right." Buffy nodded, dazed. "Explain."

"Right there with you, Buff," Xander muttered.


	4. The Quick, The Dead, and The Bait

"You mean to tell me that you allowed two of your friends to discover your identity?" Giles demanded.

"Three, if you count Jesse," Willow said. Fear for her friend was a solid ball of ice in her stomach. Chances were, Jesse was dead. But she wouldn't believe it until she saw the body, wouldn't give up trying to save him until she knew he was beyond saving.

"Need I remind you that what you do, what you *are* is not something that you can be careless about?"

"I wasn't careless," Willow shot back. "It just... happened."

Giles sighed. "I don't know what to say."

"Think of something fast. They're coming here this morning."

"You invited them here? Why?"

Willow shrugged. "They need answers."

"No, they do not."

"Yes," Willow said evenly. "They do. They nearly died last night. They deserve to know what's going on."

Giles glared, but forbore to question her any more. Instead, they discussed Willow's mysterious shadow, and the information he'd given her. "Luke said it too," Willow said, shuddering at the thought of the fight she'd had -- and lost -- against the vampire who had suddenly appeared in the mausoleum after Buffy and Jesse had escaped. "He said he was the Vessel, and the Harvest was approaching."

Willow clutched the cross she had fastened around her neck. Jewish or no, it had saved her life last night, sliding out of her pocket to burn Luke just as he was about to drain her dry. Giles didn't notice her gesture. He had headed back up into the stacks. "Do you remember anything else?"

"Something about the first night after the crescent moon or something," Willow began, then cut herself off as the doors to the library opened. Buffy and Xander walked in, and without a word seated themselves at the main table.

"My parents are ecstatic," Buffy said by way of greeting. "They couldn't believe I want to go to school early." Her hair was piled high on her head, her makeup was perfect, and her outfit was beyond fashionable. She looked as out of place in Sunnydale High's library as a supermodel.

"Guys, this is Giles," Willow said. "He's my Watcher." Giles barely glanced down from the upper level to acknowledge them, then bent his head back to his book.

"Watcher," Xander said in a careful tone. He looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"Yeah. He's supposed to guide me and train me," Willow explained, feeling very uncomfortable. Buffy was just sitting and watching her without any expression at all.

"And you're a vampire Slayer," Xander said. He pronounced the words carefully, like he was reciting by route a phrase in a foreign language. The concept wasn't real to him. Not yet.

Willow nodded. "There were vampires in L.A., and I killed them. Now they've come here."

"Where did they come *from*," Xander demanded. "Why are they here?"

"They've always been here." Then Giles seemed to reach a decision, sighed and closed his book. "This world is older than any of you know," he said. "And contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth and made it their home -- their hell."

Buffy shuddered once, quickly, but her fixed, expressionless look did not change.

Giles began descending from the upper level. "But in time they lost their purchase on this reality and the way was made for mortal animals -- for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magics, certain creatures."

"And vampires," Willow concluded.

Xander shook his head violently. "Okay, this is where I have a problem, see. Because we're talking about vampires. We are having a talk with vampires in it."

"They're real, Xander," Willow said gently. "You saw them last night."

"Yeah, but..." Xander trailed off helplessly. "And they have Jesse?"

"I'm going to find him, Xander," Willow told him. "I swear I will."

Xander nodded grimly. "So vampires are demons?"

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human... mixed their blood," Giles explained. "He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul." Passing the book he was reading to Xander, Giles continued, "He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth. Feeding, killing some and mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind." Giles looked around him at the three teenagers. "Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."

"And Willow kills them... why?" Xander shut the book Giles had given him and started pacing again.

"Because I'm the Slayer, Xander," Willow said again.

"And that would be a... what?"

"For as long as there have been vampires there has been the Slayer, the one girl in all the world. The chosen one. The one girl--"

"In all the world with the strength and whatever. I heard Willow say it yesterday. What does it mean?"

Breaking it down into the simplest possible terms, Giles said, "The Slayer hunts vampires, Willow is the Slayer, don't tell anyone. I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing. How do you kill them?"

"All right." Buffy shot to her feet so abruptly that the chair tumbled backwards. "That's it. You guys can stay here and make like that guy in the Dracula movie with Keanu Reeves, Van Halen or something. I'm getting out of here."

"Buffy!" Willow called, but the blonde was already outside the library. Turning back to Giles and Xander, Willow said, "I guess... she couldn't take it."

"As long as she doesn't say anything to anyone, it's probably for the best. Now, then, Willow, did you get any idea how the vampires got away from you?"

Two hours later, Willow was back in the mausoleum. She, Giles and Xander had brainstormed what had happened the night before, and Willow finally realized that the only way Luke could have been able to grab her from behind was if he had come in behind her. Calling up the city plans on the 'Net, they were able to determine that an electrical tunnel ran under the crypt. Luke had appeared out of it, and Jesse had probably been dragged back to the mausoleum after she, Xander and Buffy had managed to get away.

Xander hadn't wanted to let her go alone, despite her and Giles' arguments. She'd finally lost him by ducking into the girl's restroom and wiggling out through a window. Her teachers were going to freak that she was cutting class, her parents were going to flip -- but she couldn't deal with that now. She had to find Jesse. That was all she could think about.

Brilliant sunlight faded to shadows within a few feet of the entrance. Willow paused and blinked to adjust her eyes, noticing the padlocked ornate iron doors that led down. Xander had been surprisingly stubborn about being left behind. He and Jesse had been friends all their lives. Willow knew Xander wanted to save him.

But it was her responsibility. She was the Slayer. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the chain and prepared to snap it.

"Don't go down there."

Startled, she turned around. The same guy from the alley last night stood behind her. "I have to," she said.

He shook his head. "You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight's the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."

The Master. Something else Luke had said while tossing her around the crypt. Willow filled the information away in her brain and took a step closer. "I have to," she said again. "They grabbed someone, someone I know. Before... it was saving the world, protecting the innocent. I didn't have a choice. But this is my home. These are my friends. Jesse is my friend. I can't let them take him. I won't let them."

She was surprised by the bleak look her vehemence brought to her ally's face. He looked away for a moment. When he glanced back, he nodded slightly. "When you hit the tunnels, head east toward the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

Willow nodded. "Thanks." With a twist of her wrist, she snapped the padlock off and the gates creaked open. Just before she ducked through them, she looked back. "What's your name?"

The guy was startled for a moment. Then he said, quietly, "Angel."

"Angel. Thanks." Without another word, she headed down into the tunnel system.

It smelled. Even though it was not supposed to be a sewer system, the smell of decay had invaded, seeping into the concrete walls and covering the ground with invisible slime. Willow wrinkled her nose and kept going, only flinching slightly when a rat ran over her foot.

Nerves attacked her. She took a deep breath and choked on the stench. It had been so long since she had faced vampires. Would she remember? Would she be able to rescue Jesse? What if she failed, as Angel had warned her, and whatever horrific event was planned for tonight happened?

"Fear is a demon," she murmured. Merrick's lessons still drummed into her head. "There are vampire demons, horned demons, water demons, but the one that will kill you is the fear demons." He sounded like he was right next to her, his footsteps keeping pace.

Willow stopped. Those weren't imaginary footsteps. Those were real. Wary, she drew a stake and waited. Pivoting on one foot, she brought the stake up -- and stared up into Xander's face.

"Xander!" Immediately, she pulled the stake down. "What are you doing here?"

"Something stupid. I'm following you."

Willow shook her head. "I should have known you gave in too easily back at the school. You wouldn't listen to me, short of tying you up and locking you in the bookcage. You can't be here, Xander."

"I couldn't just sit home and do nothing."

Willow sighed. She and Jesse were buds. They'd known each other their whole lives, played together, squabbled together. But Xander and Jesse... when they were nine they'd sworn to be blood brothers. Xander had spent most of his holidays and vacations with Jesse's family, away from his house. She could understand that he couldn't stand to sit by and wait. She couldn't imagine just sitting by and waiting herself. "I know, Xander. I know. Now *go away*."

"No!" The pain and anger in his face tore at Willow. But she couldn't stand the thought of him getting hurt. She was terrified that she'd already lost Jesse. If she lost Xander...

"Xander, you have to!"

"Willow..." Xander's voice thinned out to nothing. Then he swallowed and said, "Don't make me leave you alone. Don't make me imagine you dead. I can't... I couldn't..."

~Direct hit,~ Willow acknowledged. After a long moment, she nodded. "Come on, Xander. I know you're just trying to skip Chem class again."

Together, they turned down a tunnel that was less orderly, less utilitarian. Water dripped from somewhere, and rocks began to replace concrete bricks. They walked in silence for several long minutes, Willow listening to her senses. There were side shoots, branches, tunnels that could lead anywhere and nowhere. But she ignored them, following what her instincts told her.

"Will?"

"Hmmm?"

"How did you... when did you... what's with this Slayer thing?" Xander asked.

Willow walked for a few more moments without speaking. "Last summer, when I was in LA. I was living in the dorms there, and I had come out of the library and was waiting for the evening shuttle back to my room. This guy approached me, called me by name, told me what I was."

"How come he picked you?"

Willow kept walking, but her memory was back on that warm June night. "He didn't pick me. It's... a destiny thing, I guess. I've always been the Slayer... or, at least, was always meant to be."

"So he just walked up to you and bang, you were the Slayer? Then what?"

Willow let the first comment pass. She didn't want to explain how it worked, that her being Called coincided with another Slayer's death. "He trained me, taught me how to fight, how to kill vampires." That was another image that she'd never forget. Merrick hadn't looked like a master martial arts instructor. He'd looked as out of place in his job as she'd felt she was in hers. But he'd taught her everything she needed to know, refused to listen to her when she tried to explain she'd always been awkward, that she never caught the ball in softball and she'd flunked out of ballet at the age of six.

"Within a couple of weeks, I was fighting vampires. There was one in LA, named Lothos. He was ruthless. And ambitious." For the first time, she stopped and turned to look at Xander. "I killed him," she said simply.

Xander didn't look disgusted or weirded out or freaked. He looked very serious. "Good."

Willow nodded, and they kept moving.

"Where's Merrick now? Did he trade you off to the librarian dude, and go fight vampires somewhere else?"

Willow swallowed. "Merrick's dead. Lothos killed him." _In front of me_, she added mentally. But she couldn't tell even Xander that, couldn't tell him of the night she'd failed Merrick and saved the world as she knew it. "And the Slayer is the only one who can fight vampires. I'm the only one."

"No, you're not," Xander said implacably. Willow didn't argue with him. She'd already lost this fight once, why try again?

Xander kept going. "You stake vampires, right?" Willow pulled the stake out of her jacket and showed him. "Okay, so... crosses, garlic, stake to the heart."

Willow tucked the stake away. "That'll get it done."

"Of course... I don't actually have any of those things."

Willow shook her head ruefully. From another pocket, she pulled out a cross Giles had given her and handed it to Xander. "Good thinking."

Xander took it gratefully. "Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff was still busy telling me not to come down here." He and the tunnel brightened suddenly as he pulled out a flashlight. "I have this, though!"

Willow put her hand on the flashlight and pushed it down. "Turn that off!" she hissed.

The light died. "Okay. So... what else?"

Willow was focused on the path ahead of them "What else what?" she asked absently.

"For vampire slayage."

Willow smiled at Xander's habit of turning verbs into nouns. She'd picked it up herself, but she liked this particular one. It made a joke out of something that had been too serious for her. "Fire, beheading, sunlight, holy water, your mother's tapioca pudding. The usual."

Xander snorted at the joke. "You've done some beheading?"

Willow didn't want to answer. She kept waiting for Xander to be freaked by the idea that she was a killer. Killer of bad things, yes, but a killer all the same. But she didn't lie to Xander, and she didn't want to start now. "Yes, I have." She didn't want to ask, but she couldn't stand not knowing. "You hate the idea, don't you?"

His reaction surprised her, though. "No, actually," he said with shaky humor, "I find it oddly comforting."

They were deep in the ground, deep under Sunnydale. Xander was asking questions, focusing on her, trying to ignore the fact of what they were doing. Willow answered him, keeping one part of her mind on their path and another on the sense of dislocation she felt. Xander was paying attention to her, asking her things in an almost respectful tone of voice. She didn't feel deliriously happy or nervous at the attention. It just felt right.

"We're getting close," she said finally, breaking a brief silence.

"How can you tell?"

Her reply was succinct. "No more rats"

The possible reasons for this made Xander shudder, and he kept his mouth shut. Suddenly, he turned on the flashlight, shining it off to their left.

"Jesse!"

Xander darted forward even as Willow breathed, "Oh, no." Jesse lay on the ground in front of them, pale, seemingly lifeless. Before Xander could reach him, Jesse jumped to his feet and brandished a pipe, desperate to defend himself.

"Jesse, no!" Xander cried out.

Jesse stared at Xander's face for a moment. "Xander?" he breathed questioningly. Then he and Xander guy-hugged, with enough force in the embrace to squeeze any normal person flat. Willow laughed and hugged herself, half-dizzy with relief.

"Are you okay?" Xander asked urgently.

Jesse stepped back and breathed hard. "I am not okay on an epic scale."

Willow had retrieved Xander's fallen flashlight and shone it on the manacle around Jesse's ankle. Jesse shook his head and said in an oddly flat voice, "We gotta get out of here."

"It's cool. Our bud Will is a superhero."

"Hold on," Willow warned. With the industrial-strength flashlight, she cracked the manacle and it fell away from Jesse's foot with a loud clatter. All three of them cringed at the sound.

"You think anyone heard that?" Xander asked.

In the depths of the tunnel, shadows began to move. Without bothering to answer Xander's question, Willow pushed him in the opposite direction of whatever was behind them and began to run, Jesse right behind them. The tunnels became a maze, and Willow tried to slow down, tried to remember which way they had turned. Their slower pace made Willow's nerves scream. She wanted speed, wanted to get Xander and Jesse to safety, but running wasn't going to do anything but get them more lost.

"They knew you were going to come," Jesse said grimly. "They said that I... I was the bait."

"Oh, great, now you tell us," Xander said. But he was too happy that Jesse was alive to put much venom into his tone. Willow ignored them, and concentrated on finding a way out.

They turned another corner and almost ran into two things with grey skin and snarls. "Oops," Willow said faintly.

"Oh, no, no, no," Jesse said, his panicked voice echoing off the walls.

Willow overrode him. "Do you know another way out?"

"I don't know, I think..." Trailing off, he turned back the way they came.

"Come on," Xander urged, and Willow followed. But it seemed like every way they went, monsters waited for them. Waited, but never attacked.

"Wait!" Jesse suddenly stopped as though he had seen something familiar. "They brought me through here, there should be a way up. I hope," he added half under his breath.

But it was a dead end. Willow did a quick scan of the corners of the small room he'd led them too, and shook her head. "I don't think this is the way out."

"We can't fight our way back through those things," Xander argued. "What do we do?"

"I have an idea." Jesse's voice was perfectly level and calm. So much so that it took a moment for both Xander and Willow to look at him, to realize what they were seeing in the faint light. His eyes were sunken and yellowed, his teeth elongated into fangs. "You can die."

Willow shut down. She couldn't think about it. She couldn't think about the fact that Jesse was dead. Worse than dead, something had stolen his body and fooled them into thinking they could save him. She couldn't think about the look on Xander's face, the one that looked like Merrick at the moment Lothos had killed him, in pain but not aware of it yet.

She had to find a way out. She had to get out, get up to the sunlight, get her act together and stop the Harvest. That's all she could think about. Catching the edge of a rust-covered door, she started to shove it closed, trying to shut out the monsters that would shortly be following them.

"Jesse...." Xander's voice seemed to be compressed, barely audible. "Jesse, I'm sorry."

"I feel good, Xander," the thing in Jesse's body said, his friend's name an abomination on his lips. "I feel strong. I'm connected, man, to everything. I can hear the worms in the earth," he said, wonderingly.

"That's a plus," Xander managed.

"I know what the Master wants," Jesse said. "I'll serve his purpose. That means you die." He smiled and leaned in threateningly. "And I feed."

"Xander!" Willow said urgently. "The cross!"

Blindly, Xander brought up the cross into Jesse's face, forcing him back. "Jesse, man," he said desperately, "we're buds, don't you remember?"

Cold as the grave, the vampire said, "You're like a shadow to me now."

"Then get out of my face," Xander said, anger beginning to dilute pain.

Jesse knocked the cross from his hand, ducking around him, closer to Willow. She took advantage of his move to grab him, tossing him out the door to knock down the monsters advancing on them. Pushing on the door again, she realized she'd never get it shut in time. "Xander, help me!"

Between the two of them, they got the door shut and the bolt thrown before anyone got through. But from the way the door shuddered from the determined banging, it wouldn't hold them long. "We need to get out of here."

"There is no out of here," Xander said, even as he started shining his flashlight around the room, searching for an escape route. He found one in a grate in the ceiling. "Up there!" he shouted, and they scrambled up a pile of garbage to get to it. The door started to give way as Willow pried at the grate with all her strength. It bent and she managed to move it, stepping back as it clattered to the floor.

"Go!" she shouted at Xander, climbing up after him into a smaller tunnel barely tall enough to let them crawl. Moving as close to the speed of light as was possible on hands and knees, they made for the other end, where daylight -- and salvation -- beckoned. Snarls followed them as Xander pushed aside the manhole cover. He hauled himself out, and turned to give Willow a hand. She was almost out when a claw wrapped around her ankle, tugging her back down.

"Xander, pull!" Willow said, breathless. Arms wrapped around her under her breasts, Xander leaned all his weight back, trying desperately to pull her away from the thing that had her. He managed to get the creature's hand out into the sunlight, where it started to smoke. The monster growled in pain and abruptly let go, sending Xander and Willow tumbling to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.

They didn't move for a few minutes. Then Willow curled her legs under her and sat up. Xander kept his face turned away, but held on to her tightly. There was nothing she could say, so she just held on too, sharing his pain as much as she could.


	5. End of the World, With Assembly To Follow

If there was anything more comforting than books, Giles had not met it yet. The smell of old glue and paper, the solid feel in his hands, the rustling of history and pages... all of it soothed his soul.

Which was something he desperately needed, given the hideousness of the situation. As much as the books themselves soothed him, nothing he found in the books was very much comfort.

When the door to the library opened, he raised his head. Willow came in, hair flame-bright in the rays of late-afternoon sunlight, gleaming dark as she passed into shadow. On her heels was the boy, Xander. The first rush of relief which flooded Giles' body faded at the look on the children's faces. Xander was suffering. And Willow looked furious, and determined.

She looked, Giles realized, like a Slayer.

Questions were irrelevant. Whether their friend was dead or turned, it hardly mattered. They were alive, and Jesse wasn't. "I'm sorry," Giles said, knowing how useless it was. Willow nodded in automatic acknowledgement of his words, but it was obvious she didn't really hear them. "I'm glad you're all right."

The sound of a crash made both Giles and Willow flinch and turn. Xander had kicked a trash barrel. When he turned to them, most of the expression had been wiped clear from his face, but his eyes still burned with pain. "I don't like vampires," he said in a voice that was almost casual. "I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good."

Willow looked back at Giles. Deep in her eyes, he saw that she grieved, would grieve. But not yet. "What do I do to stop this?"

"I don't know much," Giles began.

"What *do* you know?" Xander asked.

Giles gave him a brief, harried look, and turned back to Willow. "The Spanish who first settled here called this place 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of a portal between this reality and the next." He paused, not sure of how to proceed.

"That's what Angel meant. He said that the mouth of Hell was about to open. Open... and bring the demons back," Willow said in dawning horror.

"End of the world," Xander said quietly.

Willow started pacing around the library table, thinking. "He said something about the Master walking... Master who? What?"

"A Master?" Giles made a humming noise under his breath, and flipped through a couple of pages of his book. "I don't know exactly what that could mean." Sighing, he closed the book. "Or perhaps I do. It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."

"Someone's trapped," Willow began.

Xander finished the sentence for her. "And this Harvest thing is to get him out." The two of them shared a look and nodded, in the perfect accordance born of their friendship from nearly the cradle.

Giles stared at them for a moment. Slayers were not supposed to depend on anyone but their Watcher, and, indeed, it was highly desirable for a Slayer come to depend on no one but herself. But he couldn't blind himself to the fact that Xander's very presence supported Willow. The timid child of just the day before had matured into a determined Slayer. In the defense of her home and her friends, the ties that he had always believed would distract her instead seemed to breathe strength into her.

Giles was sufficiently stunned that it took Willow calling his name twice to bring him back to the room they shared. Oh, yes. The Harvest. "It comes once in a century, on this night." He recited the research from memory, one part of his brain still spinning with the realization he had just made -- that a secret shared could be stronger than a secret kept. "A vampire can draw power from another while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal to Hell." He crossed to the white board he'd covered with scribbled notes that would get him fired in a heartbeat if Principal Flutie ever entered the library. "The one who feeds is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He quickly sketched out the three-pointed star he'd found in his research.

Willow examined it for a few moments. "So I kill anything with that symbol, and the Master can't rise, right?"

Giles put down the pen and nodded. "Simply put, yes."

Willow nodded, analyzing. "Any idea where the Vessel is going to go to do this?"

Therein lay the rub. Giles had no idea. "There are a number of possibilities--"

"They're going to the Bronze," Xander said flatly.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked.

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's going to be, trust me."

So their friend had been turned, not killed. Giles shook his head. That was an irrelevant detail. Stopping the Harvest was what they had to think of. He grabbed his coat and headed for the door. "Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long."

"I have to make a stop. It won't take long." Willow was following him, Xander right on her heels.

"What for?" Giles asked.

Willow looked at him, level and calm. "Supplies," she said simply.

"Bye, Mom!" Buffy shouted on her way out the door. She slammed the door behind her and clattered down the stairs, carelessly risking her extremely high heels and her neck.

"Buffy!" Joyce's voice cut through the twilight air and stopped her daughter in her tracks. "Where are you going?"

"Out," Buffy said shortly. A desert wind kicked up and blew her loose hair around her face, tugged on the sheer shirt she'd pulled over a spaghetti-strap top.

"Two nights in a row? It's a school night, and you were out late last night, too."

"I won't stay late, Mom, I promise."

"Buffy..." Joyce's voice trailed away.

Her daughter turned back to look at her. "What, Mom?"

Buffy looked like she was spoiling for a fight, hand on hip, chin jutted out. Joyce sighed. "Don't stay out too late, all right?"

"I said that already, Mom. Bye."

Buffy tugged her loose shirt around her and doggedly headed for the Bronze. She was going to have fun, she promised herself. She was going to dance and gossip and flirt and not think about vampires and demons and that kid who had been dragged away screaming and --

Buffy walked faster, ignoring the sounds that couldn't be footsteps following her. One part of her mind was warning her about muggers, stalkers, the scary things she'd learned to be careful of in L.A. The rest of her was trying very, very hard to not think about what she'd learned that morning; not think about what had happened the night before; not think about the moment when little, nerdy, wimpy Willow had all of a sudden gotten frighteningly calm and spooky and the vampire had turned into dust.

She wasn't going to believe it, that's all. It couldn't be real. The people in this weird little town thought they were going to make fun of the new girl, but she wasn't going to listen, no, she wasn't --

"You shouldn't be out alone. Not at night."

Buffy whipped around. It was the tall cute guy who'd given Willow the cross. The one who'd said something about a Harvest. Buffy didn't want to see him, see anyone who would ruin her desperate attempt to pretend that the last two days hadn't happened. "Leave me alone!"

"Alone is the last thing you should be. You don't know what's out here." He stood ten feet away, hands fisted at his sides, power leashed as though he was afraid of let it loose.

"I know what's out there. I know how to take care of myself. Murderers and kidnappers and bad guys. You scream, you run, you call the cops. That's all."

Sheer frustration made him halve the distance between them. He jerked to a stop as though pulled by a choke chain, and Buffy could hear him gritting his teeth. "You have no clue what's going on here. You have no idea. Think of your worst nightmare, and triple it. That's the kindest thing you're going to find."

"Yeah," Buffy said flippantly, "well, my worst nightmare is a blind date with a loser. How much worse can that get?"

"This isn't a joke," he said, voice beaten nearly flat by frustration and fury. "You can't poke fun at it to make it go away. It's here. Deal with it."

"Stop it!" Buffy clamped her hands over her ears. "Stop it, stop it, *stop it*! I don't want to hear it. I don't want to *know*, don't you understand!" She looked at him, and the agony in her eyes made him step back. "This shouldn't be happening! This shouldn't be *real*! Vampires don't exist, okay? It's a joke, it's a fake, it's wrong!" Crossing her arms under her breasts, Buffy turned away slightly, her breath catching as she fought sobs.

"You're right." The voice was low, and right behind her, softer, although the words were no comfort. "They're wrong. Completely. They are also very real, and here. You can't ignore them."

"Watch me," Buffy said bitterly, and began to walk away.

"Don't go --" His voice choked briefly. "Don't go to the Bronze. Not tonight. You go, you die. Everyone there is going to die."

Buffy turned, and shot him a look of pure venom. Raising her chin, she turned and walked away.

Towards the Bronze.

In her admittedly short career as the vampire Slayer, Willow had faced down some horrifying monsters -- and won.

This was worse.

"No one's listening," Willow said desperately. She, Xander and Giles had been trying to convince the kids in the Bronze that they had to leave. They'd been ignored, laughed at, and mocked.

It shouldn't matter, Willow told herself sternly. All that mattered was stopping the Vessel, stopping the Harvest, stopping the Master. Humiliation didn't matter.

Sticks and stones could break her bones, but words could cause permanent damage.

She, Xander and Giles huddled on the top level of the Bronze, avoided by the few groups that were up there. "They're all just... dancing," Giles said in disgust. "Blithely dancing on the edge of disaster."

"We could scream fire... or something," Willow suggested. They were running out of options even faster than they were running out of time. "Any ideas, Xander? Xander?"

Xander looked back to Willow and Giles, "Yeah, good idea." He immediately turned to look out over the crowd again.

Willow put her hand on his shoulder. "Xander, he's not out there."

"Yes, he is. I've got to find him before Jesse does something stupider than usual."

This time, it was Giles who turned Xander away from his frantic scanning of the teens in the Bronze. But the sympathy evident in Willow's eyes was not in Giles'. Later, when they had the time and luxury for mourning. But now, he said fiercely, "You listen to me -- Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."

Xander shook his head once in rejection, and turned to look out over the crowd again.

On the other side of the upper level, Cordelia was holding court. "Senior boys are the only way to go," she said in the tones of a prophet delivering an undeniable truth to the people.. "Guys from our grade, forget about it, they're children, you know? Like Jesse."

Silent at one corner of the table, Buffy flinched. No one noticed.

"Did you see him last night, following me around like a little puppy dog?" Cordelia lifted her hands like she was about to dogpaddle, and they all laughed. "You just want to put him to sleep. But senior boys," Cordelia hummed with appreciation. "They have depth, they have mystery, they have... what's the word I'm searching for?" She searched for a moment before saying brightly, "Cars! I'm --"

"Come on, guys, this place is boring." With an elaborate show of unconcern, Buffy abandoned her drink on the table and rose. "There has *got* to be somewhere better to hang out in this town than here."

Cordelia gave her a look. "No, this is the best place."

Rolling her eyes with contempt, Buffy laughed. "You're kidding me, right? Please. Everybody hangs here. That by definition makes it uncool. Now, if we found a place no one was at and started hanging there, we'd make it cool."

Cordelia shrugged. "I don't want to go. I like it here." The sound speakers started to throb, and she jumped up. "Oh, I love this song! Come on!" Obediently, the rest of her crew followed her down the steps, leaving Buffy behind.

"They're not listening," Buffy said, too quiet for them to hear. "Why aren't they listening?"

"They don't want to believe what they're hearing," Willow said behind her. Buffy turned. Willow, Xander and Giles were waiting there. Buffy cast one look over her shoulder down at Cordelia and her friends dancing below, then joined Willow. "So, what's the plan?"

"Scream 'fire' and make everyone run?" Willow suggested.

"That's not a plan. That's a --"

Before she could finish, the lights cut out and one spot came up on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good."

The light strengthened enough that they could see his face. Buffy stepped back, bumping into Giles. "Who's that?"

Willow shoved the bag she was carrying at Buffy, and pulled a stake from her sleeve. "That's the guy who almost killed me in the mausoleum."

"And, one presumes, from the mark on his forehead, he is also the Vessel," Giles said.

"This is a glorious night!" the vampire on the stage bellowed. "It is also the last one any of you shall ever see."

"Not if I can help it," Willow said grimly. She closed her mind to the fact that someone was being drained on the stage. She couldn't save all of them, but she could stop this, save as many as possible, and make sure the Master didn't rise. "Okay. Guys, get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all. Got it?"

"Got it," Xander said. "What are you going to do?

Willow pointed with her stake to Luke on the stage. "I was planning on killing him."

"That plan, I like," Buffy said.

Willow made her way over to a part of the upper level that looked over the stage. Below her, Luke was continuing to call for more victims. "I feel the Master's strength growing! I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

Willow turned her head just in time to duck a blow from a vampire who had been running the spot on the Vessel. "Ooops," Willow said breathlessly.

"Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy. What? No volunteers?"

The blonde vamp girl who had originally grabbed Jesse now had Cordelia, who was shaking and crying. "Here's a pretty one," she said gleefully. Cordy took one look at the Vessel up close and screamed hysterically. A dull thud interrupted her cry, as the vampire Willow was fighting took a nosedive from the upper level.

Willow looked down. "Mind if I drop in?"

The Vessel glared at her. "You!"

Doing a handstand on the railing, Willow flipped down to the lower level, landing in a controlled crouch on the floor in front of the Vessel. Before she rose to her feet, she dispatched an attacking vampire by kicking his feet out from under him and staking him. Rising, she looked the Vessel in the eye. "I'm going to kill you," she promised.

"Funny, I thought that was my line." Luke pushed a whimpering Cordelia away, and faced Willow.

Xander's jaw dropped at the acrobatic jump Willow had made. It took both Giles and Buffy tugging on his hands to get him to move. "Come on," Giles said. "We have to get everyone out while Willow is... distracting the vampires."

"Distracting," Xander repeated. "Oh, yeah."

They managed to make it to an unguarded back entrance, herding people in front of them. Buffy and Giles had armed themselves with stakes and jars of holy water from Willow's bag, and stood on either side of the door. Xander started prowling the Bronze, pushing people in the direction of escape. Terrified, they no longer resisted.

He kept part of his attention on the stage at all times. Willow was fighting like a Power Ranger, but the vamp was a good match for her. At one point, she looked up, met his eyes, and shouted, "Xander, look out!"

A vampire was charging him. Xander ducked out of the way, then looked up at the sound of a crash. Willow had picked up a cymbal and flung it like a Frisbee, decapitating the vamp attacking him. Brushing the dust of his clothes, Xander shuddered slightly. "Head's up."

He turned at the sound of a scream, and found Jesse pinning Cordelia to the floor. Frantically, Cordy was twisting, trying to get away. Xander swallowed, then came up behind his best friend, stake in hand. "Jesse, man! Don't make me do it."

Jesse turned around. He looked like hell. Literally. A parody of a grin lit his face. "Buddy!"

Cordelia wriggled away from Jesse and ran. Xander barely noticed her. "Jesse, I know there's still a part of you in there."

With a lithe energy that Jesse had never possessed before, the boy jumped to his feet and faced Xander. "Okay, let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!"

"No, you're not," Xander said grimly. "You're a monster. And you're not Jesse."

The vampire grinned and grabbed Xander's jacket, pushing him against the wall. Xander brought the stake up to point at the heart. Jesse shuddered in mock-fear. "Ooo. All right. Put me out of my misery. You don't have the guts."

Before Xander could find out if he did or not, a fleeing girl bumped Jesse's shoulder. Not hard. Just enough that the stake sank through flesh to heart, and before Xander's eyes, Jesse disappeared in a cloud of ash.

"Come on, come on," Giles muttered under his breath, pushing people through the door. Some were frozen in place in the Bronze, staring at what was transpiring on the stage. Some were weeping and wailing and generally making it impossible for them to escape. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!"

Buffy stood white-faced on the other side of the doorway, stake in one hand and jar of holy water in the other. Giles spared a moment to bless the fact that she seemed to be holding up under the strain before turning to go deeper into the hovel the children patronized. "We're going to have to open the front as well," he said, before a blow knocked him to the floor. Frantically struggling against the blonde vampire who was holding him down, Giles reached for the stake that had been knocked out of his hand when he fell.

"Get off of him!" Buffy shouted, and the vampire moved to the side enough that Giles could see Buffy's face, lined with fear and determination. She uncorked the jar of holy water she held and threw it in the vampire's face.

Half of it landed on Giles, but enough hit the vampire to be effective. Hands to her face, she ran off, screaming, her voice a high, breathy wail. Giles slowly got to his feet and faced the young girl who had rescued him. She was, in her own way, as alarming a creature as what had just attacked him. "I... I... thank you."

Buffy nodded briskly and pulled another jar out of the bag. "Any time."

Willow was losing. No, she told herself, she wasn't losing. She just wasn't winning. Her strength wouldn't hold out forever, she'd have to do something to end this fight. But what could she do? The Vessel was as good as she was, and didn't make mistakes. He'd caught her once by coming up behind her, blindsiding her.

The next time the Vessel's fist connected with her head, Willow dropped like a rock. His laughter was triumphant as he knelt beside her. Her long hair covered her face and neck, and he brushed it out of his way. "I always wanted to kill a Slayer," he said with vicious humor.

"I'm not the Slayer. I mean," Willow babbled, "I'm know that I'm supposed to be or something, but how do they know? Maybe I have an identical twin somewhere and she's supposed to be the Slayer? I kind of have always thought I was adopted. Or maybe it was --"

"Shut up," the Vessel snapped. "Master, taste of this --"

Willow's head came up, and her eyes fixed on the Vessel's. He'd been so distracted by her rambling that he hadn't noticed the stake in her hand until it was in his heart. "No. You shut up."

The force of his implosion flung Willow back. She looked up, to find three pairs of eyes on her, Xander's and two vampires' holding him. Her weapon lost to the Vessel's death, she rose to her feet and lifted her chin.

The two vampires holding Xander cut and ran. Within seconds, the Bronze was empty of everyone except Willow, Xander, Giles and Buffy. Willow jumped off the stage and they met on the dance floor.

"I take it it's over," Giles said, looking a little stunned at the suddenness.

"Did we win?" Buffy asked anxiously.

Willow shared a look with Xander. He looked tired, sad -- but alive. "Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that."

Xander turned to look around him at the club, at the various piles of dust. One of them was Jesse. "One thing's for sure: nothing's ever gonna be the same."

"Vampires shouldn't be in Sunnydale," Buffy muttered to herself, walking to class the following Monday. "Sun. Vampires hate sun. Sunnydale. Way too perky a name for vampires. Why are they *here*?"

Her mutters were superceeded by Cordelia's voice. "Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Willow, like, kicked their ugly asses. Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show."

Both Cordelia and her friend stopped when they saw Buffy. "Hi, guys," Buffy tried, smiling brightly, with little hope of it working.

"Yeah, right." Cordelia sneered.

As they walked off, Cordy's friend said, "I can't believe we were almost nice to her!"

Buffy made a face at their backs. "I can't believe we saved your lives," she mimicked nastily.

Before she could pout over being shut out of the in crowd, Willow and Xander joined her, mid-argument. "What exactly were you expecting?" Willow asked. Her eyes were dancing and the smile on her face made her look worlds away from the Slayer who had saved the world Friday night.

"I don't know," Xander said, "something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly."

They spotted Giles on the walkway and joined him. In the tones of a lecturing professor, he said, "People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't."

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Buffy shuddered at the thought.

"Good!" Giles said briskly. "Next time you'll be prepared."

"Next time?" Xander repeated with a weak grin.

"Next time is why?" Buffy demanded.

Giles sighed and shook his head. "We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning."

"More vampires?" Buffy asked.

Stopping abruptly, Giles turned to face the three teens. "Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different."

"I can hardly wait!" Willow said cheerfully.

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here." Giles paused, thunderstruck by his thought. "We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction."

"Well, I gotta look on the bright side," Buffy said after a moment. "Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!"

She, Xander, and Willow continued on to class.

"Oh, yeah, that's a plan," Xander scoffed. "'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths."

"Maybe you could set fire to the school. Or blow it up. Not that I want you to," Willow added hastily. "I mean, I know I'm weird for reasons that have nothing to do with Slaying. But lack of school means lack of having to go to school."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, you know, like excessive not studying," Buffy said. "Still, blowing up the school, not a bad idea."

"Buffy go boom," Xander said in a low, rumbly voice. "Big boom Buffy, Buffy big boom."

"Watch who you're calling big," Buffy warned. Willow laughed.

Shaking his head, Giles turned to go back to the only safe place he could find, his library. "The Earth is doomed," he sighed.

THE END


End file.
